GavinLower

"The BBC's Panorama program was a gross misrepresentation of NDS's role as a high quality and leading provider of technology and services to the pay-TV industry, as are many of the other press accounts that have piled on -- if not exaggerated -- the BBC's inaccurate claims," said Chase Carey, News Corp.'s president and chief operating officer in a statement dated March 28. "Panorama presented manipulated and mischaracterized emails to produce unfair and baseless accusations."

Carey's statement followed a similar response to the reports from NDS, a pay television software provider.

"These allegations - most of which are 10 or more years old - were the subject of a long-running court case in the United States which concluded with NDS being totally vindicated of all allegations of piracy and its accuser having to pay almost US$19 million in costs," NDS said in a statement on its website.

News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal. In Australia it owns the Daily Telegraph and the Australian newspapers among other publications and media properties. Foxtel is 25% owned by News Corp. and is seeking to take over Austar for 1.9 billion Australian dollars (US$1.97 billion).

A representative for the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, in Sydney was unable to comment and referred question to it U.K. press office. A spokesperson for the BBC in the U.K. was unreachable for comment.

"These allegations, instigated by our competitors has been investigated by; the United States Department of Justice, a federal court jury, a federal trial court, and a federal appellate court who have all rejected allegations that NDS was responsible for TV piracy or that NDS distributed codes that facilitated that piracy," NDS said.

The Australian Financial Review, or AFR, claimed in a report on Wednesday that NDS encouraged and facilitated piracy of pay television companies such as Australian pay television companies Foxtel and Austar United Communications Ltd (AUN.AU). The AFR report followed a report alleging similar practices by NDS in a BBC Panorama program.

Michael Stutchbury, Editor-in-chief of the AFR in a statement Thursday said the local business publication stands by its reporting.

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